Saturday, November 23, 2013
Xbox One Sales Exceeded 1 Million In First Day; Reports For Damaged Devices Emerge

Microsoft said it sold more than 1 million Xbox One game consoles in less than a day after the new device went on sale in 13 countries.

The new mark surpasses day one Xbox 360 sales and sets a new record for Microsoft.

The Xbox One went on sale in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the U.K. and U.S. after the company cut eight countries from the initial sales list, citing production issues.

Microsoft says that Xbox One is now sold out at most retailers, and that it is working to replenish stock as fast as possible to meet customer demand.

Sony said on Nov. 17 that it sold more than 1 million PlayStation 4 consoles in North America in the first day of release.

Launch problems

Despite the strong sales, both Sony and Microsoft face issues with the operation of their new consoles.

The $399 PS4 launched last Friday and almost instantly reports of broken consoles started popping up.

The most common symptom for PS4 appears to be a "blue light of death". Sony admitted that some consoles had shipped broken and it would be working with customers to replace these models.

Sony estimates 1 percent of consoles are defective in some way.

Microsoft's release of the Xbox One was also not as smooth as the company expeted. Besides the inventory issues, Amazon.com's clients are claiming to have received defective Xbox One consoles. One of the problems appears to be the "The Disc Grinding Nose of Death", which is reportedly damaging up game discs. Optical disk drives could be sensitive in physical shocks and the specific problems is probably related to the not so smooth handling during transportation.

There's also growing reports of "green screens of death", with the Xbox One to freeze on its green boot-up screen.

Microsoft has already started pushing an emergency update. But prior to the update, some Xbox One consoles have been reportedly already banned by Microsoft by mistake, meaning their owners should have their devices replaced.